Friday, January 30, 2004

FREE GAS FOR LIFE

Golly, it looks like anyone who helped Saddam got a nice tip for their efforts.

I remember in my travels throughout Latin America that the Venezuelans did the same thing. "Consultants" and "friends" of the government were given contracts good for a few thousand/million barrels of oil while the highest paid Venezuelan school teachers made a couple of hundred dollars a month. Venezuela is an even worse example of the squandering of petro-wealth.

Saddam spent his on palaces and the military. The Saudis spent theirs on their cities, religious buildings and palaces.

The Venezuelans kept theirs for themselves and most of those dollars are in Miami, Switzerland and the Caymans.

It's clear in all cases, however, that the OPEC crowd has made sure the income from their petrodollars has only lined the "right" pockets. The only benefit that has accrued to the "normal" citizen is very cheap gasoline, which is still around $.30 a gallon in most OPEC countries. Small price to receive for being raped.